Crunch | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 28 Sep 2022 12:29:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Crunch | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Slime Rancher 2 devs celebrate successful launch with no crunch https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/slime-rancher-2-devs-celebrate-successful-launch-with-no-crunch/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/slime-rancher-2-devs-celebrate-successful-launch-with-no-crunch/#respond Wed, 28 Sep 2022 14:00:33 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=576074 Slime Rancher 2 is the sequel to the cult-hit farming simulator which sees you grow and take care of different types of Slimes. Following the success of the first game, a sequel was announced. Having launched just last week, the studio has revealed that the game is already a success, selling 300k copies. Making the …

The post Slime Rancher 2 devs celebrate successful launch with no crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Slime Rancher 2 is the sequel to the cult-hit farming simulator which sees you grow and take care of different types of Slimes. Following the success of the first game, a sequel was announced. Having launched just last week, the studio has revealed that the game is already a success, selling 300k copies.

Making the announcement on Twitter, the director for both Slime Rancher games – Nick Popovich – said “Wow! In just a few days Slime Rancher 2 has sold more than 300k copies, and reached #1 on Steam, w/a 95% positive score across over 6k reviews!”

Popovich continued, “Most importantly, this was all achieved with ZERO crunch, while offering top tier benefits and unlimited PTO to our team. Thank you!”

Crunch has become a major issue across the video games industry, no matter whether you are working in an indie studio or as part of a AAA team. As such, it is encouraging to see devs such as those at Monomi Park putting emphasis on the fact that no crunch was involved – and with 300,000 copies sold in less than a week, it’s clear that crunch was not needed.

KitGuru says: Did you pick up Slime Rancher 2? What did you think of the first game? Should more devs advertise when they aren’t crunching? Let us know down below.

The post Slime Rancher 2 devs celebrate successful launch with no crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/slime-rancher-2-devs-celebrate-successful-launch-with-no-crunch/feed/ 0
The Callisto Protocol director brags about 15-hour work days, 6-7 days a week https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/the-callisto-protocol-director-brags-about-15-hour-work-days-6-7-days-a-week/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/the-callisto-protocol-director-brags-about-15-hour-work-days-6-7-days-a-week/#respond Mon, 05 Sep 2022 08:00:57 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=573135 Many fans are excitedly looking forward to the upcoming sci-fi survival horror title The Callisto Protocol. Set to launch on the 2nd of December, the team at Striking Distance Studios seem to be working too hard to hit this date, with game director Glen Scofield blindly bragging that the team is crunching to make it …

The post The Callisto Protocol director brags about 15-hour work days, 6-7 days a week first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Many fans are excitedly looking forward to the upcoming sci-fi survival horror title The Callisto Protocol. Set to launch on the 2nd of December, the team at Striking Distance Studios seem to be working too hard to hit this date, with game director Glen Scofield blindly bragging that the team is crunching to make it happen.

In a now-deleted Tweet (archived here), The Callisto Protocol’s director Glen Schofield said “We r working 6-7 days a week, nobody's forcing us. Exhaustion, tired, Covid but we're working. Bugs, glitches, perf fixes. 1 last pass thru audio. 12-15 hr days. This is gaming. Hard work. Lunch, dinner working. U do it cause ya luv it”

Following backlash which claimed that Schofield was promoting a crunch-like culture, the tweet was deleted, with the director once again taking to Twitter, this time saying:

“Anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about the people I work with. Earlier I tweeted how proud I was of the effort and hours the team was putting in. That was wrong. We value passion and creativity, not long hours. I’m sorry to the team for coming across like this.”

The video games industry has a long history of overworking its employees and so while Glen Scholfield’s remarks were intended to show the passion of the team, it exposed some potential issues occurring within the studio. In the wake of this apology, it will be interesting to see whether such exhaustive work hours are reduced, or whether the team will have to continue crunching. Hopefully it is the former.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of both tweets? Has this affected your excitement for The Callisto Protocol? Should Glen more directly address his previous statements? Let us know down below.

The post The Callisto Protocol director brags about 15-hour work days, 6-7 days a week first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/the-callisto-protocol-director-brags-about-15-hour-work-days-6-7-days-a-week/feed/ 0
Naughty Dog addresses crunch culture as TLOU Part 1 goes gold https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/naughty-dog-addresses-crunch-culture-as-tlou-part-1-goes-gold/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/naughty-dog-addresses-crunch-culture-as-tlou-part-1-goes-gold/#respond Tue, 12 Jul 2022 09:00:34 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=567593 Almost every studio goes through a period of crunch as a game nears its release date. While neither healthy nor good, it is a common practice in the industry. Fortunately, studios are taking steps to undo this culture of crunch, with Naughty Dog claiming that the upcoming The Last of Us Part 1 was developed …

The post Naughty Dog addresses crunch culture as TLOU Part 1 goes gold first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Almost every studio goes through a period of crunch as a game nears its release date. While neither healthy nor good, it is a common practice in the industry. Fortunately, studios are taking steps to undo this culture of crunch, with Naughty Dog claiming that the upcoming The Last of Us Part 1 was developed with zero crunching involved.

Ahead of its release on the 2nd of September, Naughty Dog has now announced that The Last of Us Part 1 – the remake of the PS3 classic – has officially gone gold, meaning that the game is complete, barring final bug fixes.

Responding to this announcement, Anthony Vaccaro, the principal environment artist at Naughty Dog stated that “This is the first time in my 13 year career, across multiple studios, that I didn't need to crunch to finish a game. Feels good, really good. Especially hitting the same quality bar as TLOU2. More work to keep doing but proud of the big changes so far to make the studio healthier.”

As mentioned, crunch is an unfortunate reality which persists across all aspects of game development. It is encouraging to see however that studios are directly addressing and tackling this issue – ensuring that those who make the games we love so much remain happy and healthy.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited for The Last of Us Part 1? Are you glad to see Naughty Dog not crunching? What other steps should studios take to maintain a healthy workplace? Let us know your thoughts down below.

The post Naughty Dog addresses crunch culture as TLOU Part 1 goes gold first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/mustafa-mahmoud/naughty-dog-addresses-crunch-culture-as-tlou-part-1-goes-gold/feed/ 0
Horizon Forbidden West was delayed to avoid crunch https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/horizon-forbidden-west-was-delayed-to-avoid-crunch/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/horizon-forbidden-west-was-delayed-to-avoid-crunch/#respond Mon, 21 Feb 2022 16:26:00 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=550964 Many industries suffer through crunch – periods of intense workloads which could sometimes see developers working far longer than is healthy in order to meet a deadline (or in a video game’s case, a release date). Companies have however started to try and be more proactive in preventing crunch, with the latest company to buck …

The post Horizon Forbidden West was delayed to avoid crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Many industries suffer through crunch – periods of intense workloads which could sometimes see developers working far longer than is healthy in order to meet a deadline (or in a video game’s case, a release date). Companies have however started to try and be more proactive in preventing crunch, with the latest company to buck the trend being Guerilla Games.

In a recent report by Dutch news site NU.nl, the game director for Horizon Forbidden West – Mathijs De Jonge – discussed many aspects to the game, including the diversity of the studio, the contrast between the Horizon and Killzone franchises and more. In discussing the topic of development crunch, Mathijs said (as translated by DeepL):

“That happens very little with us. We are very aware of the disadvantages of crunching, so we take that into account a lot in our planning. To give an example, at Christmas we said that there would be no work and that everyone could just have a two-week vacation. The company was closed, you couldn't even go there to work.”

Some people would still work overtime however, with Mathijs claiming that “Some people like to keep working, they don't necessarily want Christmas vacations. That's allowed, we're not going to stop that. But from the company's point of view, we send a very strong message.”

Finally, Mathijs revealed why the game was delayed from its initially intended release year of 2021, saying “Forbidden West might have come out at the end of last year, but then we might have had to work overtime. People also need to be able to relax and take vacations, for example to be with family and friends. That also played into the decision to only release the game now.”

With Horizon Forbidden West now available to all (our own impressions of which can be FOUND HERE), its polish, love and care can be felt throughout the game – and knowing that devs didn’t have to hurt themselves for the sake of it is even better.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of crunch? Should it be eliminated throughout the industry? Should developers unionise? Let us know down below.

The post Horizon Forbidden West was delayed to avoid crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/horizon-forbidden-west-was-delayed-to-avoid-crunch/feed/ 0
Respawn developers create new AAA studio with focus on worker health https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/respawn-developers-create-new-aaa-studio-with-focus-on-worker-health/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/respawn-developers-create-new-aaa-studio-with-focus-on-worker-health/#respond Tue, 12 May 2020 15:05:53 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=466428 Two prominent Respawn Entertainment developers, Drew McCoy and Jon Shiring, have spun off to create their own AAA gaming studio. Gravity Well, as it is called, has been built “to last for decades” and aims to put developers’ health first with a focus on “creative freedom” and “anti-crunch.” Drew McCoy has been working in the …

The post Respawn developers create new AAA studio with focus on worker health first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Two prominent Respawn Entertainment developers, Drew McCoy and Jon Shiring, have spun off to create their own AAA gaming studio. Gravity Well, as it is called, has been built “to last for decades” and aims to put developers’ health first with a focus on “creative freedom” and “anti-crunch.”

Drew McCoy has been working in the games industry since 2006, and is known best for “[getting] Respawn off the ground, produc[ing] multiple award winning Titanfall games, and was Executive Producer on Apex Legends”. Jon Shiring also hails from Respawn, and “was responsible for the launch, net code, servers, and online services for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, Titanfall, and Apex Legends.”

Gravity Well is still in its early stages. The newly formed studio is currently “seeking talented developers to create games the whole team is proud of”. With many AAA studios suffering from crunch-related controversies, Gravity Well is aiming to steer clear from such issues. On its website, McCoy states that “We're building this studio to last for decades, and that doesn't happen without putting the team first.”

McCoy and Shiring’s plans for the studio includes “tak[ing] team health as an absolute top priority. That means we are anti-crunch. That means good compensation. That means everyone at Gravity Well has creative freedom, because when someone else makes all of the decisions, work isn't fun and the end product isn't as good.”

Over the years, we have heard a variety of troubling stories from developers working in large AAA studios, where crunch culture and toxic workplaces have been commonplace. It is therefore encouraging to see Gravity Well focusing strongly on engendering a healthy work culture. Hopefully the decision to do so pays off in dividends in the future.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: Are you excited to see the creation of a new AAA studio? What would you like to see the studio create? Do you appreciate the studio’s focus on putting its workers first? Let us know down below.

The post Respawn developers create new AAA studio with focus on worker health first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/mustafa-mahmoud/respawn-developers-create-new-aaa-studio-with-focus-on-worker-health/feed/ 0
DOOM Eternal studio was in crunch mode for most of 2019 https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/doom-eternal-studio-was-in-crunch-mode-for-most-of-2019/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/doom-eternal-studio-was-in-crunch-mode-for-most-of-2019/#respond Thu, 23 Jan 2020 16:16:39 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=448431 DOOM Eternal previews arrived this week, with press outlets already creating positive buzz for the game. Getting the shooter to this point was no easy task though, with id Software's Marty Stratton admitting that the studio had to go through plenty of crunch periods to get to this point. Crunching has long been part of …

The post DOOM Eternal studio was in crunch mode for most of 2019 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
DOOM Eternal previews arrived this week, with press outlets already creating positive buzz for the game. Getting the shooter to this point was no easy task though, with id Software's Marty Stratton admitting that the studio had to go through plenty of crunch periods to get to this point.

Crunching has long been part of the video game development cycle, with different departments working extra long hours as the studio pushes to hit certain milestones. Initially, DOOM Eternal was due to release in November 2019 but in October, it was officially delayed to March 2020.

Speaking with VG247 about the game, DOOM Eternal executive producer, Marty Stratton, said: “We were crunching pretty hard most of last year. It goes in phases, we’ll have one group of people crunching so the next group of people are teed up properly. As they get done, they may need to crunch a little bit.”

Ultimately, DOOM Eternal was delayed, which Stratton says does “take a little bit of the steam and pressure out” but doesn't always result in less crunch. At this point, the game is in the best position to succeed, as extra polish and testing has been done, particularly on the different back-end systems at play as well as balance changes.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: With Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed, DOOM Eternal is now my most anticipated game for the first half of the year. All the gameplay that has come out this week has looked incredible, so it seems like the developer's hard work has paid off.

The post DOOM Eternal studio was in crunch mode for most of 2019 first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/doom-eternal-studio-was-in-crunch-mode-for-most-of-2019/feed/ 0
Rockstar reportedly improving worker conditions following crunch reports https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-reportedly-improving-worker-conditions-following-crunch-reports/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-reportedly-improving-worker-conditions-following-crunch-reports/#respond Wed, 07 Aug 2019 11:30:20 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=421340 Over the last couple of years, the topic of developer crunch has been gaining much more traction, largely due to developers opening up about their experiences working on some of the biggest games. Rockstar was drawn into the conversation last year in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2's launch but it looks like improvements …

The post Rockstar reportedly improving worker conditions following crunch reports first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Over the last couple of years, the topic of developer crunch has been gaining much more traction, largely due to developers opening up about their experiences working on some of the biggest games. Rockstar was drawn into the conversation last year in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2's launch but it looks like improvements have been made since then.

Last year, following on from Red Dead Redemption 2's launch, Kotaku highlighted a number of sources working at Rockstar's various offices, who all talked about massive crunch throughout the lengthy development cycles of the studio's games. Rockstar hasn't explicitly said anything about the changes it has been implementing, but sources at Rockstar Lincoln have reached out to Kotaku again to inform them of recent improvements.

For those who don't know, Rockstar Lincoln is one of the studio's UK offices and in previous years, it has mostly been used to house temporary contract workers for game testing purposes. Testers are often hit quite hard during Triple A game development and temporary contract workers are rarely treated as equals within the offices.

However, since reports emerged last year, Rockstar Lincoln has apparently upgraded a number of temporary contract employees to full-time status, giving them security for the future. Rockstar has also begun experimenting with flexible hours, giving employees a chance to move their assigned work hours around based on their own needs.

KitGuru Says: Rockstar makes some of the best games around each generation but that level of excellence has often come at the cost of employee's well-being. Hopefully the changes being made currently can even things out in the future. We all want good games, but nobody should have to give up their entire lives to create them. 

The post Rockstar reportedly improving worker conditions following crunch reports first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-reportedly-improving-worker-conditions-following-crunch-reports/feed/ 0
Treyarch head promises ‘significant improvements’ following Black Ops 4 crunch reports https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/treyarch-head-promises-significant-improvements-following-black-ops-4-crunch-reports/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/treyarch-head-promises-significant-improvements-following-black-ops-4-crunch-reports/#respond Thu, 27 Jun 2019 10:00:32 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=416601 The conversation surrounding video game developer crunch continues, this week with Treyarch in the spotlight. According to current and former studio workers bringing their concerns to the public, year-long crunch at Treyarch was sustained during the development of Black Ops 4 and QA testers are treated particularly poorly. As usual, this latest expose is coming …

The post Treyarch head promises ‘significant improvements’ following Black Ops 4 crunch reports first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
The conversation surrounding video game developer crunch continues, this week with Treyarch in the spotlight. According to current and former studio workers bringing their concerns to the public, year-long crunch at Treyarch was sustained during the development of Black Ops 4 and QA testers are treated particularly poorly.

As usual, this latest expose is coming from Kotaku’s Jason Schreier, who interviewed 11 Treyarch staff members who have shed light on what it is like working on the Call of Duty franchise. Despite each studio having a three-year cycle, crunch is still a major issue and QA testers working on limited-time contracts are never really made to feel welcome at the studio. When QA testers head into the Santa Monica offices to cover the night shift, there have been times where the air conditioning has been switched off, turning the QA floor of the office into what is essentially a sweat shop over the summer months. Beyond that, studio-wide parties and get-togethers often don’t include QA testers and on the rare occasions that they are invited, they are only allowed to step out of their normal jobs for a small amount of time before being sent back to their desks.

Many of Treyarch’s employees are contractors, rather than full-time members of the studio. These teams are not only treated as second-class citizens but are also in a state of “perpetual crunch”, which was especially difficult during Black Ops 4 due to the last-minute addition of a Battle Royale game mode. According to the report, Treyarch’s QA testers are paid $13 an hour and have worked upwards of 70-hour weeks in the last year, which has pushed some employees to quit.

Throughout 2017, Treyarch’s campaign team was working on a co-op 2V2 campaign, which was eventually cut out of the game in early 2018 in order to shift the focus to battle royale, zombies and traditional multiplayer. As you might imagine, this made work conditions very tough in the 9-10 months leading up to Black Ops 4’s eventual release.

Since Kotaku’s report came out, Treyarch has responded to the news in a company-wide email to staff. The email states that studio managers “take the well-being of every single individual working here very seriously” and will work to address the issues raised by staff members. Moving forward, the studio aims to achieve “significant improvements to work/life balance” through better project planning, quicker decision making and streamlined production processes. The email does say that it will “require time, hard work and commitment” to get to this point but hopefully over the course of this year, the workplace situation will start to improve at Treyarch.

Of course, all of this follows a report from earlier this year, which states that Call of Duty 2020 has been overhauled, with Treyarch unexpectedly being called up to take the reigns on the project and fast-track Black Ops 5.

KitGuru Says: Call of Duty often gets criticised for being similar each year and following a standardised formula. However, reports like this prove that there are hundreds of hard working employees behind these games and really, leadership is where the major issues stem from. Hopefully more major studios will start treating their employees better. Some games may take a bit longer to make but I think overall, a happy workforce will be much more productive in the long run.

The post Treyarch head promises ‘significant improvements’ following Black Ops 4 crunch reports first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/treyarch-head-promises-significant-improvements-following-black-ops-4-crunch-reports/feed/ 0
Epic Games is giving Fortnite devs a fortnight off following reports of endless crunch https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/matthew-wilson/epic-games-is-giving-fortnite-devs-a-fortnight-off-following-reports-of-endless-crunch/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/matthew-wilson/epic-games-is-giving-fortnite-devs-a-fortnight-off-following-reports-of-endless-crunch/#respond Mon, 24 Jun 2019 12:00:17 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=416380 Back in April there was a well sourced report claiming that Fortnite's success had pushed Epic Games developers into a state of ‘endless crunch'. The studio was constantly working on and planning new updates to keep players interested in the game, leading to a gruelling work schedule. Now, Epic is going to give those developers …

The post Epic Games is giving Fortnite devs a fortnight off following reports of endless crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Back in April there was a well sourced report claiming that Fortnite's success had pushed Epic Games developers into a state of ‘endless crunch'. The studio was constantly working on and planning new updates to keep players interested in the game, leading to a gruelling work schedule. Now, Epic is going to give those developers a well deserved break.

The topic of developer crunch has been popping up regularly over the last year, as the issue tends to permeate through all major studios working on big titles. In a blog post late last week, Epic Games finally addressed the crunch that its developers have gone through at its North Carolina studio. As a result, the whole office will be getting a fortnight off from working on Fortnite.

Usually studios get this sort of company-wide break over the holiday season but it looks like Polygon's report from April has pushed Epic into giving its employees some much needed time off much sooner. Fortnite's planned content for ‘Season 9' will still roll out as planned and there are “measures in place” to ensure that major issues can be tackled if they arise during the two week break.

While content will continue to release during this time period, there won't be any official competitive tournaments running until the developers return to the office.

KitGuru Says: While I'm not a huge fan of Fortnite myself, you have to appreciate the amount of work that the developers put in each month. The game is constantly getting updates and that is by no means an easy thing to accomplish. The developers deserve this time off but hopefully this doesn't end up being used as an excuse to allow extreme crunch throughout the rest of the year. 

The post Epic Games is giving Fortnite devs a fortnight off following reports of endless crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-news/matthew-wilson/epic-games-is-giving-fortnite-devs-a-fortnight-off-following-reports-of-endless-crunch/feed/ 0
CD Projekt Red speaks out on development crunch https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/cd-projekt-red-speaks-out-on-development-crunch/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/cd-projekt-red-speaks-out-on-development-crunch/#respond Sun, 19 May 2019 13:38:27 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=413191 The issue of developer crunch has been coming up a lot lately, with extensive reports on the issue plaguing many major studios, including Rockstar, Epic Games, NetherRealm, BioWare and more. CD Projekt Red has been relatively open about the fact that it goes through ‘crunch’ periods during development. Now ahead of Cyberpunk 2077’s next push …

The post CD Projekt Red speaks out on development crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
The issue of developer crunch has been coming up a lot lately, with extensive reports on the issue plaguing many major studios, including Rockstar, Epic Games, NetherRealm, BioWare and more. CD Projekt Red has been relatively open about the fact that it goes through ‘crunch’ periods during development. Now ahead of Cyberpunk 2077’s next push towards release, the studio has approached the subject once again.

Ahead of Cyberpunk 2077’s next showing at E3 in June, CD Projekt Red’s Marcin Iwiński reached out to Kotaku to tackle the subject of crunch head-on. As Iwiński puts it, the studio is “known for treating gamers with respect” and “would like to also be known for treating developers with respect”.

CD Projekt Red has a “non-obligatory crunch policy”, which has been around for a long time and is also in place at many other studios, including Rockstar. In the future, CD Projekt wants to push this harder, making it clear to developers that they don’t necessarily have to work on nights and weekends.

“we’ve been communicating clearly to people that of course there are certain moments where we need to work harder”, with last year’s E3 demo being used as an example. Still, Iwiński wants the studio to “be more humane and treat people with respect”, creating an environment where employees can take time off when needed without being frowned upon.

Ultimately, this is intended as a public message from CD Projekt heads to its employees. Iwiński wants employees to feel like they can tell management when the don’t want to or can’t put in extra hours without fearing for their job. In the meantime, though, for the final push on Cyberpunk 2077, there will be structured time-off. This means that developers will be asked to limit their time off to specific periods, like the summer directly after E3, or the winter towards the end of the year.

CD Projekt Red will be taking employee surveys to see how they feel about the overall crunch situation and will see about making changes accordingly. Most of the plan will already be in place for the remainder of Cyberpunk 2077’s development but hopefully when it comes to future projects, there will be more structure in place to avoid major, sustained crunch.

KitGuru Says: Crunch might not be mandatory at many studios, but due to the collaborative nature of creating games, it is easy to see how some would feel pressured into participating. After all, nobody wants to be the person in a group project holding everyone else back or slowing things down. Nobody seems to have a sure fix for this but perhaps we’ll start to hear about positive changes as more major studios focus on it.

The post CD Projekt Red speaks out on development crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/cd-projekt-red-speaks-out-on-development-crunch/feed/ 0
NetherRealm is investigating allegations of poor working conditions https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/netherrealm-is-investigating-allegations-of-poor-working-conditions/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/netherrealm-is-investigating-allegations-of-poor-working-conditions/#respond Tue, 07 May 2019 08:10:37 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=412433 Development crunch has been an increasingly common topic of conversation over the last couple of years, to the point where almost every major studio seems to fall into the trap. NetherRealm was the latest studio to be outed for the practice, with former employees talking about being heavily overworked during production on Mortal Kombat 9 …

The post NetherRealm is investigating allegations of poor working conditions first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Development crunch has been an increasingly common topic of conversation over the last couple of years, to the point where almost every major studio seems to fall into the trap. NetherRealm was the latest studio to be outed for the practice, with former employees talking about being heavily overworked during production on Mortal Kombat 9 and Injustice 2.

NetherRealm recently launched Mortal Kombat 11, which brought along plenty of complaints about the studio's management, mostly from former employees. Allegations included overcrowded office environments, poor treatment of contract workers and huge periods of ‘crunch' to finish up projects, including 100-hour work weeks. Many of these allegations are serious, which has prompted a public response from NetherRealm.

Speaking with Variety, a NetherRealm spokesperson offered the following statement: “At NetherRealm Studios, we greatly appreciate and respect all of our employees and prioritize creating a positive work experience. As an equal opportunity employer, we encourage diversity and constantly take steps to reduce crunch time for our employees. We are actively looking into all allegations, as we take these matters very seriously and are always working to improve our company environment. There are confidential ways for employees to raise any concerns or issues.”

As was the case with Epic Games, Bioware, Rockstar and others, these ‘crunch hours' are never strictly forced but are heavily implied to be a necessary part of the job. More often than not, tech issues and poor planning is what leads to these intense working hours, although poor employee morale can also have a big effect. During Mortal Kombat 11's development, a huge leak came around revealing the character roster and other key details well ahead of time, which led to an office full of innocent workers getting screamed at and threatened with unemployment. It later came to light that no one in that room was the source of the leak, but by that point, the damage was already done.

We will have to wait and see how things change following all of this. There is the possibility that nothing changes and leadership hopes for this to blow over. However, that strategy isn't working particularly well for Riot Games at the moment.

KitGuru Says: Game development is a difficult task but it is made harder when there is so much that needs to be done in a short space of time. Working 100-hour weeks is not going to produce the best results, which is something that more studio managers could stand to realise.

The post NetherRealm is investigating allegations of poor working conditions first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/netherrealm-is-investigating-allegations-of-poor-working-conditions/feed/ 0
Fortnite’s success has led to ‘endless crunch’ for developers at Epic Games https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/fortnites-success-has-led-to-endless-crunch-for-developers-at-epic-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/fortnites-success-has-led-to-endless-crunch-for-developers-at-epic-games/#respond Wed, 24 Apr 2019 12:36:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=411211 Epic Games has found great success over the last year with Fortnite's Battle Royale mode. The game has managed to keep players interested with frequent updates and in-game events but all of that content comes at a cost. This week, an investigative report came out surrounding Epic Games and its approach to ‘crunch', a process …

The post Fortnite’s success has led to ‘endless crunch’ for developers at Epic Games first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Epic Games has found great success over the last year with Fortnite's Battle Royale mode. The game has managed to keep players interested with frequent updates and in-game events but all of that content comes at a cost. This week, an investigative report came out surrounding Epic Games and its approach to ‘crunch', a process in which developers are expected to work lots of additional hours to meet milestone goals.

This time around, the investigation comes from Polygon, citing several developer sources currently working at Epic Games on Fortnite. According to the report, many developers are working 70 to 100 hour weeks all in the name of pushing timely updates. If something breaks in Fortnite, then developers have to cancel their plans and pool together to start fixing problems immediately, rather than taking the time to include it in the next patch.

One source is quoted as saying: “If a build went out into the wild and there was a negative reaction, then someone at the top would say, ‘We need to change that', and everyone would be pulled in from what they were doing, and people were told to cancel their plans, because they were going to crunch until this was done.”

Another source adds: “Everything has to be done immediately. We're not allowed to spend time on anything. If something breaks – a weapon, say – then we can't just turn it off and fix it with the next patch. It has to be fixed immediately, and all the while, we're still working on next week's patch. It's brutal.”

Fortnite has become the most popular game around over the last year, which has placed great strain on staff, who no longer have much time to prepare for updates and need to be available to produce updates with very little notice. It isn't just the full time Epic Games developers affected by this either, as contractors are placed under similar time constraints. If contractors choose to not work the overtime hours required to keep a game like Fortnite flourishing, then they don't get re-hired in the future.

KitGuru Says: Many publishers will claim that overtime work is not directly forced on developers but more often than not, there is pressure as deadlines need to be met. Judging by this report, working on Fortnite sounds like a bit of a nightmare. It makes you wonder if other ‘live service' games run into the same problems.

The post Fortnite’s success has led to ‘endless crunch’ for developers at Epic Games first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/fortnites-success-has-led-to-endless-crunch-for-developers-at-epic-games/feed/ 0
Rockstar touches on Red Dead Redemption 2 length, cuts and development crunch https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-touches-on-red-dead-redemption-2-length-cuts-and-development-crunch/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-touches-on-red-dead-redemption-2-length-cuts-and-development-crunch/#respond Tue, 16 Oct 2018 09:24:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=391161 Red Dead Redemption 2 is heading our way at the end of next week, which means it is all hands on deck at Rockstar as the team prepares for launch. As part of an interview this week, Rockstar did manage to spark some controversy, after talking about 100-hour work weeks for developers. Speaking with Vulture, …

The post Rockstar touches on Red Dead Redemption 2 length, cuts and development crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Red Dead Redemption 2 is heading our way at the end of next week, which means it is all hands on deck at Rockstar as the team prepares for launch. As part of an interview this week, Rockstar did manage to spark some controversy, after talking about 100-hour work weeks for developers.

Speaking with Vulture, Rockstar co-founder, Dan Houser, discussed progress on Red Dead Redemption 2. We know that the main story will be roughly 60 hours long and that around 5 hours worth of gameplay was cut due to some missions and story beats not hitting the quality bar that Rockstar was aiming for.

The big thing that was taken away from this interview was Houser’s comments on development time. During the interview he notes that the development teams have been working 100+ hour weeks at various points in order to polish up the game’s 300,000 animations and 500,000 lines of dialogue. Given that developer crunch is a hot button topic in the industry right now, this did spark some concerns.

Since that comment, Houser has clarified what he meant in a statement given to Kotaku, saying: “The point I was trying to make in the article was related to how the narrative and dialogue in the game was crafted, which was mostly what we talked about, not about the different processes of the wider team”. Houser also explains that while his senior writing staff will often work three really intense weeks to wrap story elements up, the studio as a whole is not expected or required to work this way.

“The senior writing team, which consists of four people, Mike Unsworth, Rupert Humphries, Lazlow and myself, had, as we always do, three weeks of intense work when we wrapped everything up. Three weeks, not years. We have all worked together for at least 12 years now, and feel we need this to get everything finished.”

“More importantly, we obviously don’t expect anyone else to work this way. Across the whole company, we have some senior people who work very hard purely because they’re passionate about a project, or their particular work, and we believe that passion shows in the games we release. But that additional effort is a choice, and we don’t ask or expect anyone to work anything like this. Lots of other senior people work in an entirely different way and are just as productive – I’m just not one of them!”

Extensive overtime is common in the game development world, especially late into a project as a studio gears up for launch. It isn’t uncommon for developers at some triple A studios to sleep in the office and work extra long hours to finish up a project. Some studios discourage crunch time, while others fully embrace it. From the sounds of it, Rockstar is a mix of both.

KitGuru Says: Development crunch is always a topic worth discussing. Being overworked can have very rough effects and there are certainly a few studios out there that need to take better care of their workers. From the sounds of it, Rockstar can be a mix of both, with some teams actively crunching while others take more breaks.

The post Rockstar touches on Red Dead Redemption 2 length, cuts and development crunch first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/rockstar-touches-on-red-dead-redemption-2-length-cuts-and-development-crunch/feed/ 0